OCTOBER 9 / Newspaper ethics and a hypothetical case

TO AVOID getting bogged down in local personalities, let's examine questions of journalistic ethics posed by this imaginary set of facts in a long-ago, far-away land:

An male editor at an award-winning newspaper in Albany, New York, is married to a female attorney. In 2000, the Federal Election Commission reports a $1,000 contribution to the Hillary Rodham Clinton for U.S. Senate Committee, Inc., by an attorney with exactly the same name as the editor's wife -- presumably her. She practices criminal law, but among other services, her "discreet" law firm advertises that it can "monitor and assess the political impact of state and local regulatory and legislative activity for our clients." Albany is, of course, the state capital of New York.

What are the editor's ethical obligations, if any, with respect to his wife's professional activities, the activities of her law firm, and her political contribution? Twenty minutes, 250 words, no copying.